Mindset Shift for Motivation

I want to share my secret to staying motivated to stick to fitness with you, but before we get to that I need to tell you a little story.

My mother is sort of like Mrs. Claus.  There was even a time we all dressed as elves and handed out gifts at her business back in the day. 

For as long as I can remember, my mother kept a "giving room".  Not a Living room...a Giving room, all year round.

She stocks it full of wrapping, ribbons, boxes, bags, and loads of random things to give-away.  We would often joke at Christmas time that if something didn't fit, give Shirley a minute, and she would come out with three other choices. 

What's interesting about my mom's room is that I never went in to snoop around.  I learned from a young age that the anticipation of getting a gift was better than getting the gift itself.

That's the secret to sticking to your fitness routine day after day, week after week, month after month, and for years to come: 

The gift of working out can come one day at a time, but on those days when you just don't feel like it, when you discipline yourself to tie those bows on your shoes, and wrap up your body in workout clothes, you are investing in a long-term gift of health.

Too often we dread what the effort will feel like or how much we might miss out on because we took the time for ourselves.  

There's lots of excuses I could have used to justify opening those packages or to allow myself to dig through my moms hidden treasures. However, my mindset was what gave me an expectant hope for the ultimate gift.

When we choose to live in a state of hope and expectancy for the best outcome- it changes us.

Are you desperate for a change?  Do you long for the gift of feeling great when you move? Do you find yourself wishing you could find a way to burst with energy again?

With black Friday just a few days away my mother is already wringing her little hands getting all geared up for her shopping and stocking this year.

And I am holding on to a little secret gift of my own that I'll be releasing this Thursday.  It's the biggest giveaway I have ever offered and it is guaranteed to start shifting your health in just 10 days.

Stay tuned friend, I'm putting the final touches on my gift to you.

In the meantime, would you shoot me a response to this e-mail letting me know what the best gift you ever received was?  Or, even better, would share your stories of what getting gifts was like for you growing up? I'd love to hear your precious memories.

Wishing you holy, healthy, healing,

Nicole

Using Routine to Dial Up your Workouts

After interviewing some the most successful people on the planet, experts know that the majority of these highly successful people have an intense dedication to movement and exercise.

They know what we know about the benefits of exercise, but they will dedicate time to make sure it gets done regardless of what else is on their plate.

Exercise improves memory, focus, our sense of organization and recall, sleep, and most importantly it improves our mood. 

So how do we get motivated to keep our workouts a top priority, especially when work and family life are already so full?

Routine.  Not just a schedule, but a ritual that makes the process of moving a part of our existence that we realize we cannot live without.

A world-class dancer, Twyla Tharp says it like this:

“I begin each day of my life with a ritual; I wake up at 5:30 A.M., put on my workout clothes, my leg warmers, my sweatshirts, and my hat. I walk outside my Manhattan home, hail a taxi, and tell the driver to take me to the Pumping Iron gym at 91st street and First Avenue, where I workout for two hours.

The ritual is not the stretching and weight training I put my body through each morning at the gym; the ritual is the cab. The moment I tell the driver where to go I have completed the ritual. 

It’s a simple act, but doing it the same way each morning habitualizes it — makes it repeatable, easy to do. It reduces the chance that I would skip it or do it differently. It is one more item in my arsenal of routines, and one less thing to think about.” – The Creative Habit

Twyla doesn’t always start out motivated.  She finds motivation once she has started her ritual.

James Clear, author of How to Be Motivated Every Day says,

 “The key to any good ritual is that it removes the need to make a decision.”

If you are struggling with consistency or motivation to workout, find a routine that gets you in motion.  Once you get started, more often than not you will experience that an object in motion will stay in motion. 

Meditate for 5 minutes; take 5 cleansing breaths, listen to the same song, sip on tea out of the same mug each day, do 20 jumping jacks. 

The ritual doesn’t matter as much as what you decide it does for you to take away the question of whether or not to move forward.  As long as the answer is always yes after you complete the ritual, it is the right one.

Get creative and stick with your ritual for as long as it works for you.  Be sure to send us your ideas and rituals so we can learn from you too!